Away from the flash bulbs and the hype, Wayamba XI, easily the least talked about team in the inaugural Champions League T20, have trotted into the Capital keeping to themselves even as a Mahela Jayawardene or an Ajantha Mendis peek out of the bunch. Irrespective of this apparent low profile though, expect Wayamba to give all teams in fray a run for their money.

With eleven Sri Lankan internationals threaded together, mostly all-rounders and crowding up the national line-up for all formats, there’s an intrinsic competition too. Jehan Mubarak, Rangana Herath, Ishara Amerasinghe, Kaushal Lokuarachchi, Farveez Maharoof, Isuru Udana, Ajantha Mendis, Michael Vandort, Mahela Udawatte and Chanaka Welegedera have all donned the Lankan colours in different circumstances, while competing against each other and in different formats and the Champions League will be another platform for them to knock the doors again, all together.

Coach Manoj Abeywickrame remains silently confident and he doesn't dislike the low-profile at all.

“Most of the people around are talking about the other teams and we haven’t quite attracted the attention a bunch of eleven international players do. But that’s another kind of a challenge for the boys,” Manoj told Sportline, adding, “I think most of the foreign teams aren’t aware of our line-up and that’s because the boys haven’t been playing at the international level for a considerable amount of time. In a way, this may work to our advantage.”

The coach, however, asserts the strength of his team with a mix of players who can be switched according to the situation.

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